What Could Not Be Changed (6)

Disaster Shin Yooseung gazed down at her own body with a light, unburdened expression as she spoke.

…Am I going to die now?

Kim Dokja gritted her teeth at the vividly clear inner thoughts of Disaster Shin Yooseung pouring in through Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 2.

Originally the Beast Lord wouldn't die from wounds like that. But the opponent was Hellfire that extinguishes all evil…

Sizzle…

Even now, a faint crackling sound of something burning rose from the abdomen where Jung Heewon's blade had been driven in.

The hellfire lodged deep inside her body was not content merely to extinguish all evil—it was consuming her very life.

Uriel's stigma, Hellfire, was a flame that never went out until it had burned every last scrap of an evil person to ash.

With Uriel's fire already kindled inside her, Shin Yooseung would never survive.

Perhaps she knew it too.

Disaster Shin Yooseung looked at Kim Dokja and smiled weakly.

"I'm glad I came to this turn. Listening to the Captain was the right call."

It hurts… vanishing like this.

"Now I can die in peace. This time, something might actually change."

I don't want to die…

Kim Dokja's face crumpled in anguish at Shin Yooseung's hidden heart. She gazed down at her with a look full of quiet affection.

To know someone's heart was always to deceive them in some way.

And to know someone's heart was always to risk wounding yourself.

That was why omniscience itself was a curse.

Disaster Shin Yooseung smiled faintly and looked up into empty air.

Where her eyes rested, Intermediate Dokkaebi Baul hovered.

"I'm about to die, so a little melodrama is fine, right? This was a pretty good scenario, wasn't it?"

【………….】

At Shin Yooseung's words, Intermediate Dokkaebi Baul said nothing.

He was staring down at Disaster Shin Yooseung with a look of pure bewilderment.

Why that expression?

Simple. The story was no longer flowing the way he wanted.

The scenario had been completed, yet it had not followed the script he had envisioned, and so Baul was flustered.

Footsteps approached from behind.

Kim Dokja turned at the sound.

Before she knew it, Yoo Joonghyuk was standing right behind her.

"Are you leaving?"

Yoo Joonghyuk regarded Disaster Shin Yooseung with a grave expression.

Disaster Shin Yooseung met that gaze, gave a small nod, and smiled softly.

"…Probably."

"Looks like your hatred for me was insufficient."

This bastard, right to the very end…

Kim Dokja's face twisted in sudden irritation at Yoo Joonghyuk's words.

Disaster Shin Yooseung looked up at Yoo Joonghyuk and thought to herself.

There's something I really want to hear from you.

Yoo Joonghyuk spoke to the Shin Yooseung who was staring at her, voice indifferent.

"I have a question."

Just once.

"What is it?"

If I could hear it just once, that would be enough.

Unlike Kim Dokja, who could hear Disaster Shin Yooseung's words through Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Yoo Joonghyuk could not hear her voice—could not hear the hidden heart—and so she slowly opened her mouth.

"Who was the demon that helped you cross world-lines?"

Shin Yooseung stared blankly at Yoo Joonghyuk for a moment, then smiled faintly.

"…As expected, the Captain is the Captain right to the end."

You never change.

"Speak."

I admired that about you.

"Have you ever heard of the 'Demon of the Horizon'?"

"I know the name."

"If your luck is bad, Captain, you'll meet him soon too. But never fight him. No matter how hard you try, beating that guy is impossible."

For so long… truly so long…

Kim Dokja listened to the desperate sincerity hidden inside Disaster Shin Yooseung's words during their conversation and looked at her with a heavy expression.

She wanted to tell her. She wanted to pass on Shin Yooseung's true feelings to this dense Yoo Joonghyuk—the clear voice ringing in her own ears, that earnest inner heart.

"Yoo…!"

After long hesitation, Kim Dokja made up her mind and opened her mouth, ready to convey Shin Yooseung's hidden thoughts to Yoo Joonghyuk—

But when she saw Disaster Shin Yooseung looking at her with a gentle smile and giving a small shake of the head, Kim Dokja could not say a word.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had not heard Disaster Shin Yooseung's heart, looked at her and spoke.

"…I'll remember."

Just then, Yoo Joonghyuk's own inner voice reached Kim Dokja's ears.

I'll avenge you.

At the sorrow contained in that thought, Kim Dokja's eyes flew wide open.

Sizzle…

As if time was finally running out, Shin Yooseung's body began to crumble little by little.

Take care, Captain.

You've worked hard.

I'll leave the rest to you.

Rest now.

Kim Dokja could only stare blankly at Shin Yooseung and Yoo Joonghyuk.

…She already knew.

Even without honestly baring their hearts to each other.

Even without hearing, she had already been listening.

For the first time, Kim Dokja wondered whether Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint might not be truly omniscient after all.

Young Shin Yooseung had come up beside Kim Dokja at some point and clutched the hem of her clothes.

She's pretty…

Disaster Shin Yooseung smiled as she looked at the young Shin Yooseung.

…I'm envious.

Young Shin Yooseung stared blankly at that smile and quietly shed tears.

Then—

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

Someone's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠applause crashed over their ears.

Startled, everyone turned toward the source of the sound.

"Sorry, but the melodrama ends here."

The one clapping was Park Jinwoo.

Footsteps approached.

"This story isn't over yet."

Park Jinwoo strode quickly right up to Disaster Shin Yooseung's face.

"Jinwoo? What on earth…"

"Park Jinwoo, you bastard…!"

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk both narrowed their eyes in shock at his sudden interruption.

Park Jinwoo glanced over the gazes of his companions, the incarnations of Seoul Dome, the Constellations, and the Dokkaebis, then quietly moved his lips.

Sorry, but I want to keep watching the story of the 41st-turn Shin Yooseung.

Sparks like a probability storm flickered across Park Jinwoo's entire body and soon enveloped him completely.

So I'll just tweak the ending of this story a little.

A pure, clear golden light flashed from the place where his heart lay.

Water-Calming Pearl.

Park Jinwoo called the name of the dragon relic housed in his heart, and a golden orb the size of a human head appeared right before his nose.

Crack! Crackle!

Golden sparks erupted from the Water-Calming Pearl; the tips of Park Jinwoo's body, enduring them head-on, began to char.

Yet he only smiled deeply, as if the pain meant nothing.

Water-Calming Pearl, hear me. As your master, I command you.

Heal the bodies of the brave who fought the disaster here in Yongsan-gu.

And restore the body of the Disaster of Floods, Shin Yooseung, to the state it was in before she became an evil person.

Wooooong—!

At its master's command, the dragon relic shimmered with golden light.

Fwaaaah—!!

A golden wave burst outward from the Water-Calming Pearl and blanketed all of Yongsan-gu.

"This is…?"

"…So when he said he was using mana earlier, he was pouring it into the Water-Calming Pearl?"

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk stared blankly at the orb and at Park Jinwoo as their injured bodies rapidly healed.

Their companions likewise felt vitality flood their wounded flesh and wounds close; they were stunned.

Even the incarnations of Seoul Dome who had gathered in Yongsan-gu and bought time against the monsters pouring from Disaster Shin Yooseung's Monster Gate began to recover from their injuries at astonishing speed.

"…Is this a miracle?"

"M-my wounds are healing!"

"F-Father!"

"Hyung! Are you okay?!"

"Th-the leader opened his eyes! It's a miracle! A miracle?!"

Whether they had only light scratches or had been critically wounded and unconscious, every injury was mending. People began to murmur at the miracle unfolding before their eyes.

Some even called it the descent of a god and began to pray.

And that miracle restored Disaster Shin Yooseung's body just as swiftly.

…What is this?

As her body, which had been scattering like dust, reversed time and healed, Disaster Shin Yooseung's eyes flew wide; she stared at Park Jinwoo in disbelief.

The wounds that had riddled her entire body closed. Her form returned to the state it had been in before the evil transformation began.

The sacred flames inside her, deciding there was no more malice left in Shin Yooseung, slowly dwindled and finally vanished from her body.

"…Why?"

Disaster Shin Yooseung looked at Park Jinwoo with tears streaming down her face. When even the arm she herself had torn off regenerated, she clutched it and bowed her head.

Hearing her voice, Park Jinwoo slowly turned, placed a hand on the bowed head of Shin Yooseung, and stroked her hair as he continued.

You will not die. I'll make sure of it.

Clear tears spilled from Disaster Shin Yooseung's eyes at his words.

A thousand-year journey ending in a story worse than this piece of trash.

Park Jinwoo glared right back at Intermediate Dokkaebi Baul, who was glaring at him.

I can't just stand by and watch that.

He stopped stroking her hair, dropped to one knee so their eyes met, and went on.

But this only restored your body. Your soul is still mortgaged to the demon and the Dokkaebis.

"……………."

So now I'll give you back your freedom.

Park Jinwoo placed his hand over Shin Yooseung's solar plexus.

With a solemn expression he closed his eyes and spoke.

I will use the Guaranteed Extraction Ticket.

I used one of the three items I had bought from the Story Shop in order to save the 41st-turn Shin Yooseung.

The Story Shop carries all sorts of items.

Items and gear from novels.

Items and gear from anime.

Items and gear from games.

Know what they all have in common?

They all come from fictional works.

So let me ask you this.

Would something like a game system's "guaranteed summon" get registered as an item? Or not?

The answer is: it does.

The systems that usually appear in games—guaranteed summons, guaranteed gacha pulls that let you obtain something at 100% probability—had been registered in the Story Shop and were now displaying their full glory here.

A game system had become a single "Story" and taken root in this place.

But.

This only made the probability of my Extraction skill 100%.

By itself it could not pull out the demon's and Dokkaebi's "contract" that had taken root in Shin Yooseung's soul and tangled itself into a complicated mess.

I had already found the answer to that, though.

The answer lay in the trait I obtained when my exclusive skill, Extraction, reached skill level 10.

I will activate the trait, Extractor.

Zzzzzzt—!!!

From the hand I had placed on Shin Yooseung's solar plexus, the omen of a probability storm surged.

Even through the heat that seared my body and the horrific sensation of my fingertips slowly disintegrating, I kept smiling.

Endure.

Keep smiling.

The moment you've longed for is right in front of you.

If I just get past this hurdle, I can save her.

The pain that had begun at my fingertips spread like a virus through my entire body until agony flooded every part of me.

Drip.

Once again my body hit its limit under the probability storm.

As if insisting that what I was doing was wrong, the storm tried to shove me away and tear me apart; I forced myself to endure it while searching for the "contract" lodged in Shin Yooseung's soul.

Found it…

Under the pain that blanketed my whole body, one second felt like a minute. Yet I gritted my teeth through that terrible agony and finally located the ominous something nested in her soul.

At the system message floating before my hazy eyes, I broke into a bright smile.

…Who the hell decided the probability—the possibility—was 0%?

The one who decides is none other than me.

I will save her no matter what.

I will turn this garbage story into a happy ending.

I will make it so.

I will extract the "contract" lodged in Shin Yooseung's soul.

Zzzzzzt…!!!

Sizzle…!!!

Guh…?!

A probability storm far more intense than before began to burn my entire body.

The fingers at the tips of my hands blackened and ignited under the storm's influence.

The flames that started at my fingers instantly swallowed my arms, then covered my upper body, and finally stretched toward my neck and lower half.

"N-no…"

Watching my body blacken and burn right in front of her, Shin Yooseung stared at me with eyes full of sorrow.

"S-stop it… You'll die if you keep going…!"

Ha…! Perfect.

"What…?"

Sacrificing everything and dying for a beauty. Isn't that every man's dream?

Even while cold sweat poured down my whole body and I was dying, I cracked a joke.

Didn't I tell you earlier? You will not die.

I would make it so.

I spoke to Shin Yooseung again.

I'm the type who keeps every word I say. So you will definitely live.

Because that was the story I wanted.

At the system message before my eyes I stiffened for a second, then smiled again.

So what if a lump-necked bastard like Hokburi finally noticed? What was he going to do about it now?

That's why… if you're going to make a contract, you should have triple- and quadruple-layered your defenses, you piece-of-shit bastard—!!!

I slowly pulled out the thing thrashing violently inside Shin Yooseung, its ominous aura seething in resistance.

And then—

Shhhhk!

I finally yanked free the root cause that had nested inside her and turned her into a disaster.

Hah… hah… hah…

The moment I pulled it out, I had consumed every last scrap of probability I was allowed.

I lifted the ominous black jewel in my hand and smiled.

"…I win. You fucking bastard…"

Leaving the countless indirect messages of the Constellations behind me, I turned and looked at my companions.

Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk, and the rest of the party were all staring at me in a daze.

I gave them a small smile and spoke.

"Yo, sorry about that. I caused a little trouble. But just this once, let it slide, yeah?"

"Park Jinwoo, you…"

"Park Jinwoo…"

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk, standing at the front of the group, stared for a long time at my skin that had turned pitch-black and the grotesque burns where flesh had been seared away, then looked at me with hollow expressions.

I turned my head and looked up at the sky.

【…………Something this absurd?】

There, Baul was staring down at me with a face of utter shock.

No—Bihyung and the other low-ranking Dokkaebis near him wore the exact same expression.

Looking at those faces, the decade-old frustration in my chest seemed to ease just a little.

I glanced at them with a smile and pulled out one of the three items I had bought from the Story Shop—an Elixir.

Really glad I bought this in advance…

If Disaster Shin Yooseung had been immune to the Water-Calming Pearl's power, I had planned to use this on her.

Fortunately her body had responded to the Pearl and recovered completely.

So I decided to drink it myself.

Gulp! Gulp!

The moment I downed the game's broken recovery item, the Elixir—

My grotesquely transformed skin and wounds began to heal. My body, burned by the probability storm, started returning to the state it had been in before the storm hit.

…If I hadn't recovered even a little with Continuous Combat earlier, I would've died of shock halfway through.

Watching my body mend, I was genuinely glad I had activated Continuous Combat.

Having safely pulled the contract Hokburi—more precisely, the Dokkaebi—had forced on Shin Yooseung out of her soul, I finally had a bit of breathing room.

I carefully examined the black jewel in my hand, then shifted my gaze to Shin Yooseung, who was staring blankly at me.

With this, every plan of the "41st-Turn Shin Yooseung Rescue Operation" had succeeded, and she was free.

All that remained was the "Hidden Plan" I had prepared.

I clenched the black jewel tightly and glanced over my companions, who were still staring at me in a daze.

Then I looked carefully at Kim Dokja.

Sensing my gaze, she raised her head and met my eyes straight on.

Suddenly her expression froze. As if she had felt something ominous—

Kim Dokja's face went cold and hard as she called my name.

"Park Jinwoo…?"

Looking at her, I moved my lips.

"Sorry, Dokja."

I'm gonna cause just one more accident.

I drove the black jewel in my hand straight into the area around my heart.

"Park Jinwoo…!!"

Kim Dokja cried out his name at the top of her lungs the instant Park Jinwoo suddenly shoved the thing he had extracted from Disaster Shin Yooseung into his own heart.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Yet even at her call, Park Jinwoo remained frozen with his head bowed. She broke into a run toward him, and the companions who sensed something was terribly wrong followed a beat later.

Zzt! Zzzzzzt!

But they were already too late.

The same eerie, ominous black aura—no, black sparks—they had seen and felt from Disaster Shin Yooseung now slowly overflowed from Park Jinwoo's entire body.

Kuuuuuuuung——!!!!

A crushing pressure that weighed on their bodies made their knees buckle effortlessly; they collapsed to the ground.

"Guh…?!"

"Ugh…?!"

The party bit their lips until they bled, trying to resist the pressure crushing them, but it was useless.

System messages of a color completely different from the usual ones floated before their eyes.

At the thick, ominous crimson-black messages, they stared blankly at Park Jinwoo.

And at the system message that followed, the companions, the incarnations of Seoul Dome, the Constellations, and the Dokkaebis all froze in shock.

While everyone in Yongsan-gu stared blankly at the Hidden Scenario that had just appeared—

Zzzzzzt…

The black sparks flowing from Park Jinwoo's body gradually began to subside.

Then, from within the black sparks, Park Jinwoo's voice reached everyone's ears.

【Hmm…. Not exactly a pleasant experience, is it?】

Both of Park Jinwoo's hands thrust out through gaps in the black sparks—

Zzzzt—!

He tore the black sparks wrapping around him apart with his bare hands and stepped out. Everyone stared at him in a daze.

【Everyone looks shocked.】

The Park Jinwoo who emerged from the black sparks looked no different on the outside.

But every single person gathered in Yongsan-gu felt it.

The thick, ominous aura flowing from his entire body.

And they realized.

Park Jinwoo had become a "Disaster" of his own free will.

Park Jinwoo smiled contentedly at the companions and Constellation messages that stared at him in shock or disbelief, then turned his head and glanced up at the Dokkaebis in the sky.

【Looks like everyone's pretty surprised. Ta-da! How is it, how is it? I became a Disaster?】

Then he looked at his companions kneeling and gasping on the ground and the incarnations of Seoul Dome who had fainted nearby, and as if he had just remembered something, he snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The crushing pressure that had blanketed their bodies vanished. Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk, and the companions forced strength into their stiff limbs and rose from the ground.

Kim Dokja stepped forward with a hard expression and opened her mouth toward Park Jinwoo.

"Park Jinwoo. Why… why…?"

【Why did I do something like this?】

At her question, Park Jinwoo smiled deeply.

【Dokja. I really, truly cherish the people close to me.】

He looked at each of his companions one by one, then at Shin Yooseung behind him who was staring up at him with a face full of despair, and finally back at Kim Dokja as he continued.

【But that doesn't mean I'm a sucker. I'm not some saint who'll pour out everything I have for my people.】

Park Jinwoo slowly raised his head and looked at the Hidden Scenario floating before his eyes as he spoke.

【This time, to save Shin Yooseung, I spent a total of 510,000 coins.】

Then he moved his body with exaggerated gestures and went on.

【So I need to get something worth 510,000 coins too. At least cover the loss, or better yet make a profit on top of it, right? Doesn't that feel better?】

"……What does that have to do with you becoming a Disaster?"

【It does. I just obtained a new Story.】

"…What?"

Realizing why Park Jinwoo had suddenly done this, Kim Dokja's body trembled; she glared hard at him and opened her mouth.

"S-so. You became a Disaster just to get a Story?"

【And?】

"You crazy fucking bastard…!!!"

【Whoa, whoa~ You said you'd let it slide just once earlier? Calm down, calm down!】

"Are you actually out of your goddamn mind?! You became a Disaster for a single Story?! How the hell are you going to get out of that then?!"

【Eh… well, there's probably some way, right?】

"Y-y-you……!!!!"

Kim Dokja's face turned rapidly red. Her blood pressure spiked so hard from his words that she looked ready to grab her neck and collapse.

And the rest of the companions were no different.

Looking at them, Park Jinwoo seemed to feel a little guilty himself; he pressed both hands together toward the party and begged for mercy.

【Joke, joke! It was a joke, a joke! I already thought of a way!】

He then glared at the Dokkaebis who were staring blankly at him and continued.

【I've been curious about something for a while.】

Shing.

Park Jinwoo pulled a strangely bent dagger from the pocket of his subspace coat and opened his mouth.

【This dagger's name is Rule Breaker. It's the ultimate anti-magecraft Noble Phantasm that returns objects reinforced by mana, relationships formed by contracts, and lives born of mana back to the state before they were created.】

"What on earth is that…?"

Kim Dokja listened to the explanation of the dagger in Park Jinwoo's hand and stared blankly at it.

An item that even she—the reader who had read every single turn of Ways of Survival—had never heard of was resting in Park Jinwoo's palm.

Noticing her gaze, Park Jinwoo smiled faintly and corrected himself.

【Oops. Around here it would be better to call it a "Holy Relic" instead of a Noble Phantasm, wouldn't it?】

Click.

He pointed the dagger at his own throat and looked at his companions as he spoke.

【Then here's a question. If I commit suicide with this dagger right now, could I monopolize the reward of the Hidden Scenario that was just delivered to all of you?】

At his words, the companions' faces went deathly pale.

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk ground their teeth without a word and lunged to snatch the dagger from his hand.

【You'll find out if you check for yourselves.】

"Stop! Park Jinwoo you bastard, stop…!!"

"Stop it, Park Jinwoo…!!!"

【I get Dokja, but even our Joonghyuk is worried about me? Don't worry, don't worry. I'll probably be fine.】

Park Jinwoo smiled faintly as he watched Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk charging toward him.

Then his expression hardened, and a brilliant light of mana flashed from the Rule Breaker in his hand.

All the laws of heaven and earth. All creation, the whole of existence—return them to their origin.

Every talisman that must be broken.

Rule ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Breaker.

Park Jinwoo drove the blade of Rule Breaker into his own throat.

Went exactly according to plan.

Originally, Rule Breaker was said to only work on things that involved mana and things that flowed with it.

And Hokburi's and the Dokkaebis' contract did not flow with mana.

So why did Rule Breaker work?

The answer was simple.

My Extraction uses mana to extract whatever I want to extract—that's how it worked.

Because I used my exclusive skill, Extraction, on the "contract," mana naturally began to flow through the contract.

And so the "contract" that fell under Rule Breaker's influence was annihilated by it.

I obtained a new Legendary-grade Story plus two more Stories. Way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than enough to cover the value of 500,000 coins.

I had screwed over Baul and the Constellations who had fed him probability, and I had safely rescued the 41st-turn Shin Yooseung.

I had acquired multiple Stories, completed all the special conditions of Incarnation of Disaster so it recovered its original rank, and successfully unlocked the special ability as well.

But.

"…Sorry about that."

I lowered my eyes before Kim Dokja, who was staring blankly at me with tears streaming down her face, Yoo Joonghyuk whose face was twisted into something like a malevolent demon, and the companions behind them whose eyes were blazing as they looked at me.

"N-no, I mean, I told you I had a way, so it was fine……"

Grab.

Just then, a soft sensation from behind me and the feeling of someone tightly seizing both my arms made me turn my head in panic.

There stood Disaster Shin Yooseung—no, the future Shin Yooseung who was no longer a Disaster—looking down at me.

"Y-Yooseung? I'm in a bit of a tight spot right now. Could you let go…"

Future Shin Yooseung looked at me for a moment, smiled softly, then hardened her expression and turned her head toward the companions.

"I'll hold him. Step on him."

"…Hold that bastard tight."

"…This time I really will kill you, Park Jinwoo."

"Uh…? Uh, uh? D-don't come closer…! I-I clearly warned you?! Don't come closer…!!"

I thrashed with everything I had to escape the future Shin Yooseung holding me from behind, but—

My body, already at its limit, refused to move the way I wanted.

I shouted at the companions who were looking at me with blazing eyes.

"S-Sangah-ssi! Heewon-ssi! Hyunsung-ssi! Seolhwa-ssi! Jihye! Yooseung! Gilyoung! H-help me…!! Dokja and Joonghyuk and future Shin Yooseung are trying to kill me?!"

But despite my cries, the companions sheathed their weapons, slowly loosened up, and began approaching me with terrifying momentum.

"…N-no. You guys don't come closer either…. Don't come near me…?!"

Flail! Flail!

I looked up at the sky and shouted again.

"H-hey! Seniors! Elder, Ancestor, God, Angel, Demon King?! Monkey-nim! Dragon-nim! Plotter-nim! Somebody, somebody help me out here?!"

When even the Constellations—my last hope—betrayed me with their indirect messages, my face went ashen.

"Y-y-you…! Y-Yooseung! Please let go! I'll buy you candy, okay?! Huh?!"

"I'm an adult, you know…? You think that would work?"

From ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠behind me came future Shin Yooseung's incredulous voice.

Just then the Star Stream announced my rank, but that wasn't the problem right now.

I screamed in terror at the blazing eyes of the companions who had almost reached my nose.

"D-don't come near me, I said—!!!"

Just then, from deep within my soul, the voice of the Star Stream rang out.

This fucking—why the hell give me a Modifier at this exact timing, you piece of shit?!

I thrashed while staring at the Modifier the Star Stream had assigned me.

And when I raised my head again—

Ah………

As Kim Dokja's fist flew toward me, I watched it grow larger and larger in my vision.

The dawn sky is really clear today…

I wore an expression of complete surrender before the approaching fist of Kim Dokja—

And then a cheerful impact sound rang out across all of Yongsan-gu, followed by someone's scream.